Topkapi Palace Museum The Porcelain Section;'The Silk Road' collection Today; the kitchens are used for the display of Palace's great Chinese and Japanese porcelains. There are over 600 pieces exhibited. The collection of Chinese porcelains first started with Bayezid II and Selim I and mosly by Suleiman the Magnificent. The pieces date from celadons of the Sung and Yuan Dynasties (960-1368 AD) and later of Ming (18th C). The Porcelain Collection starts with 13th C of late Sung Dynasty on the very right of the hall. The collection is sorted in chronological order. After the Ming Period; the collections are more blues-whites combination and the designs are nicer. There are celadons; pots; coffee cups; water jugs and beautiful plates as well as cauldrons made of porcelain. this collection came through 鈥楾he Silk Road' which passed through Ottoman Empire. Until the Suez Canal was opened; all the major trade routes used the Strait Dardanelles to reach the Mediterranean and the Indian and Pacific Ocean. GREEN PORSELIN COPIES OF THE CHINESE; FROM IRAN LATE 16TH CEN. WHERE NOT LIKED AS MUCH AS THE ORIGINAL CHINESE CERAMICS